Wei Tieliang tells stories of martyrs. Photographed by Li Yilin

"The Tomb Sweeping Day is coming soon, and there are many people coming to pay homage, so I have to go there early." More than 7 o'clock in the morning, Wei Tieliang, 71, hurried to eat a few mouthfuls of food, and rode his electric bike to the Anti Japanese Martyrs Memorial Temple in Changyi, Shandong Province, a few kilometers away to "go to work".

Changyi Anti Japanese Martyrs' Shrine was built in 1945 to commemorate the martyrs of the Eighth Route Army who died in the Anti Japanese War. It is one of the earliest and best preserved martyrs' shrines in Shandong Province. Wei Tieliang, who retired to his hometown in 1975, has been working in the town civil affairs office. In 2011, the administrator of the Martyrs' Shrine could not continue to work due to physical reasons, and the town government appointed Wei Tieliang to look for a successor.

"At that time, the town put forward three conditions, the administrator must be a retired soldier, a party member, and not more than 60 years old." According to this standard, Wei Tieliang visited more than a dozen villages around the town, and has not found a suitable candidate.

In June of that year, Wei Tieliang, 59, took the initiative to take over the key of the Martyrs' Shrine and became the successor administrator.

Three days after taking office, Wei Tieliang told his wife that he was going to be the administrator of the Martyrs' Shrine. Both his wife and his son's daughter-in-law urged him to think again. No matter how his family persuaded him, Wei Tieliang was determined.

After taking the responsibility of guarding, Wei Tieliang took this job as a career. He cleared weeds in the yard, replanted and trimmed flowers, repainted doors and windows in the yard, and moved his own flowers and plants. Under his careful care, the Martyrs' Shrine took on a new look.

Wei Tieliang found in his work that there were very few records about the deeds of the martyrs. In order to make up for this shortcoming, whenever he had time, he took the list of martyrs and visited dozens of surrounding villages, looking for the martyrs' descendants and comrades in arms. The other side dictated and took his notes. This "stubborn old man" with only primary school culture has collated nearly 100000 words of martyr information for more than 10 years. Today, Wei Tieliang is very familiar with the deeds of more than 500 martyrs in the Martyrs' Shrine. He has clearly researched who is the youngest, who has experienced what, and who are the brothers.

One day in 2018, a leader of Changyi City came to visit the Martyrs' Shrine and learned that Wei Tieliang had only 200 yuan a month since he had been guarding the Shrine. He asked the competent department on the spot to solve the problem of his treatment. Wei Tieliang said, "The martyrs will not even die for the sake of the country and the future generations to live a safe life. Even if they don't have any money, I will keep the martyrs' temple."

Since Wei Tieliang became the administrator of the Martyrs' Shrine, the changes of the Martyrs' Shrine have been obvious to all, and more and more people have come to visit the memorial ceremony. On the most recent day, he received 14 groups of visitors. His wife painfully advised him to pay attention to his health. He said: "It doesn't matter if I'm tired. The important thing is to publicize the deeds of the martyrs, let more young people understand history, and pass on the spirit of the martyrs."

"People often ask, these martyrs are very young, do they have descendants? I replied that they have no descendants, and I, old Wei, am their son!" This is Wei Tieliang's solemn commitment to more than 500 heroes. (Zhe Fangwen, Li Baopeng, Duan Zengshun)

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